Louise Rosenblatt is a retired educational researcher who developed a revolutionary approach to reading.  She suggested a theoretical model of the reading experience as a “transaction” or reading act as an event involving a particular reader and a particular pattern of signs, a text, and occurring at a particular time in a particular context.  Basically, the “meaning” is not apparent “in” the text or “in” the reader but happens or comes to light during the transaction or reading experience.  The term text implies a transaction with a text; and then term text implies a transaction with the reader.  “Meaning” is what happens during the transaction rather than thinking of them as separate entities instead of factors in a total situation.  Before an inference of the syntax can come about, we have to select a meaning.  Factors such as context and reader’s purpose will navigate the reader’s choice of meaning.  On the other hand, John Dewey, a well-known philosopher and educator for the pragmatism movement, believed that educational experiences required interaction between the reader and the text.  This new paradigm requires a break with entrenched habits of thinking.  The old stimulus vs response, subject vs object, individual vs social dualisms is no longer recognized of transactional connections.  The human being is recognized as part of nature in a continuous transaction with the environment as each one conditions the other.

Cobb & Kallus (2011). Historical, Theoretical, and Sociological Foundations of Reading in the United States. Pearson Education, Inc., Boston, MA.

I found chapters 8 and 9 of Christie, Enz, Vukelich, & Roskos (2014) most interesting yet because it focuses on strategies to best assist types of learners I work with on a daily basis.  Many strategies are identical to a variety of learners we work with daily, but how we approach the need of each individual learner is key.  The authors of the textbook suggest strategies for early readers, English Learners, and exceptional learners.  The textbook states that reading instruction should be based upon a foundation of evident based programs and practices.  Two of the main goals of reading instruction are helping students learn how to decode words (by teaching phonics) and then helping them apply the decoding skills automatically for fluent reading.  I whole-heartedly agree that in order to foster learning and reading there are several strategies we should take into consideration.  Some key elements of good reading instruction is providing an enriching environment of literature with a variety of reading levels, genres, and topics which create imaginative thoughts and provoke interactions of young minds of early readers and offering materials for drawing and writing within authentic learning can be just as important. 

The growing population of English Learners in the United States requires educators to teach strategies to enable ELL children to learn to read in English and to read in English to learn.  First, ELLs should develop an understanding of phonology, morphology, and syntax, and pragmatics of English as they are learning new vocabulary and new concepts.  ELLs best learn by developing listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills through meaningful and motivating contexts created around literature and language-based instruction.  Book walks can create engaging dialogue for ELLs.  Graphic organizers, such as Venn Diagrams and semantic maps, are good options to use while exploring stories and their meanings.  English Learners need extra time to learn the regular curriculum plus English.  Pre-teaching vocabulary and opportunities for oral communication will only increase the success of second language learners. 

Explicit instruction in basic reading skills can be a great benefit for teaching children with special needs.  Many of the strategies used for teaching early readers and ELLs are the same used for exceptional learners, only the process may be more explicitly taught.  Once reading levels have been determined, the following strategies should be put in place.  Picture books provide students with special needs opportunities for conversation along with an overview of the sequence of story content.  Repetition of readings can increase fluency.  Providing tools to eliminate visual distractions can be helpful as well. 

Fluency is essential for reading.  I read aloud to my students to model fluent reading.  Other strategies I have used are having audio books for students to follow along as it is read to them. We practice sight words often.  Students who participate in reader’s theater, paired reading, choral reading, and repeated reading can improve fluency. 

Fluency is important, but if students are not understanding what they are reading, how can they make meaningful comprehension from the text?  It is important for teachers to model think alouds as they read to students.  Teachers can create opportunities to ask questions about the illustrations, setting, main points, and author’s purpose throughout the readings to check for student understanding.

Teachers can collect data such as fluency running records which show the rate of fluency over a period of time.  Formative assessments can be utilized throughout a unit to check for understanding of contexts of information being taught.  These types of data checks help educators form small or whole group instruction for areas to be retaught and targeted for better student learning outcomes to prepare for summative assessments.

Chapter 4:

As I reflect on reading chapter 4 of Christie, Enz, Vukelich, & Roskos (2014), I noticed some similarities into my current practice of teaching vocabulary directly.  It is important to provide purposeful exposure to new words with high-utility root words that have been decided in advance to teach to children.  Intentionally teaching word meaning is important for students to comprehend and use in everyday interactions.  Young children should be taught word-learning strategies so that they may make inferences to word meanings from context.  Think aloud modeling is the best practice a teacher can model during read alouds.  Students should be offered opportunities to use newly learned words.  One way to do this is to utilize opportunities of cross-curricular connections of the vocabulary.  I noticed that my students were able to retain vocabulary words and their meanings when the vocabulary words and definitions were shown, told, and then students were able to draw a graphic image in their journal to remind them of the meaning.  I would like to improve finding additional ways to teach strategies for students to learn.  It can be so easy to become redundant in teaching a certain way that has worked in the past…however, not all students learn the same way.  That is why it is important to be open to diversity of teaching methods.

Chapter 5:

I would like to set up an effective reading community in my school by presenting the advantages of encouraging readers with a well-designed library center that has several engaging books with comfortable furnishings.  Providing props, and writing materials for children to use during dramatic play centers promotes meaningful, life-like opportunities for imagination and interactions with print.  I like the idea of changing up the centers with different themes and writing opportunities.  I will provide materials such as envelopes for post office dramatic play, or grocery list pads for students to make grocery list and food orders and such.

Chapter 6:

There are eleven identified variables of an early literacy program that are essential for children to have as an opportunity to learn:

1. Alphabet knowledge
   • Print knowledge
   • Environmental print
   • Invented spelling
   • Listening comprehension
   • Oral language/vocabulary
   • Phonemic awareness
   • Phonological short-term memory
   • Rapid naming
   • Visual memory
   • Visual perception skills
2. Phonological and phonemic awareness, alphabet letter recognition, phonics and print awareness being the most ‘broader’ of the early reading skills as the foundation for learning literacy.

Both concepts of phonological and phonemic awareness involve just sounds of letters and are important pieces of literacy learning.  The instructional sequencing of instruction begins with broad concepts to smaller and smaller ones.  However, phonics involve the connections between the letters and sounds.  First, phonological awareness should be introduced, then begin developing awareness that words are composed of phonemes as students become aware of letter-sound associations. 

Chapter 7:

At my charter school we use weekly formative assessment tools to determine what interventions need to be put in place during small group or whole group instruction.  This process allows us to prepare students for the summative assessments to determine what students have learned throughout the unit.  I learned that the weekly and unit assessments we utilize are called on-going assessments that are used as a guideline for interventions.  Benchmark testing which is usually done at the beginning of the year, middle of the year, and end of the year to measure improvements of success are called on-demand assessments.  From my experience, these types of assessments are crucial for data digging and response for interventions before finding out there are needs to be met before finding out when it is too late.

Promoting Effective Teaching of Literacy & Language

When teaching language and literacy, effective teachers are guided by a set of principles:

• Explicitly teach children skills that research supports as key elements of reading, writing, and speaking.
• Provide children with a print-rich classroom environment.
• Read to children daily and encourage them to read books on their own.
• Demonstrate and model literacy events.
• Provide opportunities for children to collaborate and help each other learn about language and literacy.
• Support children’s experimentation with print.
• Provide opportunities for children to use language and literacy for real purposes and audiences.
• Link literacy and play.
• Know the nation’s and their state’s language arts standards and provide instruction linked to these standards.
• Use multiple forms of assessment to find out what children know and can do.
• Respect and make accommodations for children’s developmental, cultural, and linguistic diversity.
• Recognize the importance of reflecting on their instructional decisions and build partnerships with parents.

What are the major views on how language develops, and the influence of a second language?

There are four theories in which have been used to explain how children acquire language:

1. Behaviorist view- emphasizes the important role of reinforcement in helping children learn the sounds, words, and rules of language.
2. Nativists view- stresses the importance of children’s inborn capacity to learn language and suggest that a portion of the brain is dedicated to language learning.  It explain how children ‘invent’ their own two- and three-word grammars and overgeneralize rules for past tense.
3. Social-interactionist view- emphasize the importance of both environmental factors and children’s innate predisposition to make sense out of language and use it for practical purposes.  This perspective explains how children learn about language by using it in social situations. 
4. Neurobiological view- new technology had allowed scientist to observe how the brain perceives, interprets, and expresses language.  It also explains how the structural development of the brain in related to language acquisition.  It helps explain why children’s experiences during infancy have such a crucial effect on later language learning.

How can the reading specialist or literacy coach best support children’s language development?

The reading specialist can best support children’s language development by encouraging parent literacy supports at home and by providing literacy and language supports and research-evident strategies to teachers.

What information from our readings can best support teachers and parents in assisting with language development?

Parents can promote their children’s oral language by scaffolding their language, encouraging them to tell personal narratives about their experiences, reading stories to them on a regular basis, monitoring their children’s TV viewing, and encouraging active TV viewing. 

Teachers should provide opportunities for students to see lots of print and have easy access to books.  Students should observe adult literacy usage in everyday situations.  Adults can support children’s literacy development by answering children’s questions, pointing to letters, and initiating functional literacy activities.  Providing a variety of literacy materials supports engaging children’s literacy development in early forms of reading and writing. 

What’s the use in memorizing a word & its definition, if we don’t truly understand its meaning?

1.  Describe, explain and/or show an example of the vocabulary word.

2.  Ask students to think/pair/share and collaborate with their understanding of the meaning to the vocabulary word.

3.  Ask students to create a picture, symbol, or graphic in a vocabulary journal which represents their understanding of the word.

4.  Ask students to create a motion/movement and share the motion/movement with a fellow classmate while explaining their choice.

5.  Have students participate in interactive games/activities in which relate to the newly learned word(s).

Successful Strategies for English Learners of all ages and stages!

1. Write the word on the wall.
2. Model and explain the definition.
3. Use Visuals (pictures and videos if available)
4. Add to the word wall w/ illustrations.
5. Student created illustrations of their own interpretation of the meaning.
6. Students share work with peers while explaining their illustrations.

*Environmental labeling in classroom and around the campus.

*Interactive Word Walls

*Individual Word Journals/picture dictionary

Introducing Letters and Sounds

1. Write the letter on board.
2. Model proper writing structure of letter.
3. Model proper sound with a kinesthetic movement.
4. Brainstorm as a group words/names with the sound (initial, medial, and final)
5. Play “I spy the letter….” around the room.
6. Write the room, and copy words with the letter in it; then identify initial, medial, or final position.